Deep Sea Graffiti

2021

Digital film

15 minutes 22 seconds

Deep Sea Graffiti, was made during Pell’s time on Tetley’s (now Yorkshire Contemporary) Associate Artists’ Programme (TAAP).

The sci-fi inspired film is set in the submerged streets of Britain or ‘Briea’ after a biblical flood, where the country now lies deep at the bottom of the ocean. The humans that once lived there are gone. Ichthyssey, a fish-like humanoid is the sole protagonist and narrator of the film. He takes the audience on a tour of Yorkshire or ‘Yorea’. He points out graffiti left behind by his distant ancestors, ‘The Aleans’, using it as a starting point to talk about the speculative history and culture of the region.

Credits: Witten and directed by Jack Pell, cinematography by Jack Pell, Sophie Bullen and Rhian Cooke, illustrations by Jack Pell, costume and performance by Jack Pell

Install at Leeds Artists Show 2023, Leeds Art Gallery, 2023

Photo by Rhian Cooke